Day 125.

Cross training day.  We're camping, so I've done a lot of walking, hiking and playing with the kids.

Day 124.

This morning I woke up feeling tired.  My legs aren't sore, but I have soreness in my shoulders and neck.  I went for a 45 minute walk, then did 30 minutes of Pilates to try and relax my muscles.

Day 123.

I ran 7 miles today!  It seems like my body is learning which day to expect the long run, because I usually feel my best on that day.  I warmed up with 10 minutes of Pilates, then walked about 5 minutes before starting my run.  I felt good the whole time, with just a little tightness in my quads toward the very end of the 7 miles.  The crazy thing is that it was so cold outside that I had goosebumps that never went away, even after 7 miles of running I still felt freezing cold...in June!!  When I got home I also did 20 minutes of Yoga.

Day 122.

Another 3 miler today before tomorrow's long run of 7 miles.  I woke up with a headache, but started to feel better as I did my Pilates warm-up.  I also took some Excedrin, and I think the caffeine in there helped give me a boost.  I walked to the park to do my run.  Normally by the time I get to the park my Garmin has picked up satellite reception and is ready to go, but today it was having trouble for some reason.  So I just started the timer when I began my run, and ran for 33 minutes.  Once I had a satellite signal, my Garmin said I was going about a 10 minute mile pace, so I figured I got my 3 miles in, at least.  When I came home I also did workout 3 from Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred.

So tomorrow is my weekly long run, and I've been noticing that as the mileage has increased, I have a harder time recovering during the couple of days following my long run.  I have been feeling more tired, sore and just plain yucky.  By Monday, I'm rested and ready to start my week of running again, but I'd like to figure out how to shorten/lessen my recovery.  My husband seems to think I'm not eating enough, especially on long run days.  That may be, so tomorrow I'm going to try to eat a bigger breakfast with more carbs than usual after my run and see if that helps in the following days.  Anyone out there have any suggestions on this subject...??

Day 121.

Another beautiful, sunny morning - I love it!  3 miles today, and as I said yesterday, I decided to do some hills.  I warmed up with 10 minutes of Pilates, then about 5 minutes of walking before starting my run.  For those of you familiar with the area where I live, I ran about 1.55 miles up Jackson Creek Road, and it's a killer!  It's all uphill, with a pretty steep grade, especially when you're trying to run it.  The reward is when you get to the "top" (I didn't really go all the way to the "top" of Jackson Crk., I just ran far enough to get in half of my run), then to turn around and see the view of the valley, and you get to fly back down the hill.  It's awesome, and totally worth the tough run up the hill.  When I got home from my run I felt pretty winded, though my recovery time gets shorter and shorter with each run.  I also did level 2 of the Yoga Meltdown DVD.

Day 120.

Well, I got my wish.  The sun is out today, and it was actually a little bit warmer.  Today's run was 3 miles.  I warmed up with 20 minutes of Pilates, then walked about 1/4 mile before beginning my run.  I actually went about 3.22 miles, and in slow fashion.  I'm starting to get discouraged about how slow I am, and I have to keep reminding myself that I'm doing it, at least I'm running.  I just have to keep at it and eventually my speed will increase.  I think tomorrow I'll do hills again.  When I came home from my run I also did workout 1 from 30 Day Shred.

Day 119.

Rest day.  I don't have much to say today.  I'm feeling quite depressed about the crummy weather we've been having.  I am so sick of the cold, the clouds and the rain, that it's affecting my motivation and excitement level about training.  It's all mental, and thankfully I'm driven enough to push through this crap, but it would be easier if I had something to look forward to, like a fun run on a beautiful, sunny, warm morning...

I attempted to cheer myself up this morning with a chocolate and peanut butter protein smoothie.  It helped a little.

Day 118.

Today is another cross-training day, and my plan was to get up and go for a walk and then come home and do a workout DVD.  I got up a little early, with a new purpose for my walk this morning: yesterday one of the boys in my Cub Scout den was telling me about how there have been a couple of moose lingering in their family's field recently.  This boy's house is on one of my running routes, so I got excited that I might catch a glimpse of the moose.  I love moose!  I took my small camera with me just in case, but it doesn't have a very good zoom on it, so I knew it wouldn't do much if the moose was any distance from me.  I started out on my walk, and of course it was raining.  I walked about a mile and had reached and passed the field where the moose had been sighted.  I kept going down the road I usually take, and was quite a bit past where the boy lives when I suddenly saw a huge, dark animal stand up in the middle of a grassy area and start walking around.   I could tell immediately it was a moose, even though it was a good distance away.  I snapped a picture with my camera, then turned around and ran about a mile home to grab my good camera.  (So much for no running today!)  Anyway, I drove back to the area where I saw him, but he was no where in sight.  I sat in the car on the side of the road for a few minutes, and was just getting ready to head home when he reappeared from behind some old farm buildings.  Here are some of the pictures I was able to get:

What a beautiful animal.  When I got home, I also did workout 2 from the 30 Day Shred DVD.

Day 117.

This morning I did 30 minutes of Pilates, followed by 30 minutes of cross-training.  I felt pretty tired getting out of bed, but once I got moving I felt better.

Day 116.

I ran a 10K today!  I don't know why, but always the night before my longest run of the week, I have a harder time sleeping, and last night was no exception.  I even went to bed early in the hopes of getting extra rest, but I woke up several times during the night thinking it was time to get up and go for my run!  Finally, I just got out of bed at 5:30am and did 20 minutes of Pilates, then headed outside.  And I have to say, even though I complain a lot about the cold, yucky weather we have here, we do live in one of the most beautiful places I can imagine.  I did my run up a road I've never run on before, and it was a little more hilly than I had anticipated, but I felt okay.  It is no joke that the first 3 miles are always the hardest for me, and after that I feel so much better.  The sun was out, the mountains are really green, I saw some bunnies and some deer, and I had a great run.  Here's my Garmin after I finished 6.5 miles of running (I know, a 10K is theoretically closer to 6.4 miles):

So I averaged an 11 minute mile pace, with my fastest speed being 6.9 mph, which must have been while I was coming back home, going down a hill! ;)  I'm no speed demon, that's for sure, but heck...I just ran 6.5 miles!  After my run I also did level 2 of the Yoga Meltdown.